Hexian
by WIRIFP
Summary: Bella is a Hexian, Edward is her guardian, her protector. When those who are trying to find and kill Bella get a little too close she is moved in to live with Edward. She must train to fulfill her potential as an incredibly powerful being. Love hate relationship to start, training, fighting, banter. Hopefully a happy ending. Dark in some places. 19 chapters to post review-new chpt
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, and as she took a side glance in an attempt to make out her pursuers she stumbled once again on the root woven ground. Her mother's necklace pulled her down as if there was a heavy weight attached to it, instead of the small, ruby-encrusted locket. The lightless sky made it even harder for her to find her way through the mass of trees, slowing her escape further as they effortlessly closed in on her. Breathing harder, she could take the weight of the locket no more and collapsed onto the cold ground, a chill travelling up her spine as she heard the heavy footsteps of her end approaching._

Bella sat up and immediately grasped a-hold of her necklace, which was hung around her neck (as always) and saw what had awoken her this time – Ivan's cat had managed to get it's paw stuck in her patchwork quilt and was tugging at it trying to free itself. Ivan, Bella cringed, was Lucinda and Dominique Fawlen's son. Bella's _brother_ through adoption. He was a tall, sturdy boy and had a head shaped rather like a basketball. He wore glasses, had beady, mud-coloured eyes, which were (to Bella's constant amusement) half hidden by bushy eyebrows that threatened to completely smother them. His nose was freckly, his cheeks puffy and he had more spots decorating his face than the dot-to-dot colouring books that he still played with (even though he was almost 18). Mrs Fawlen (Lucinda) on the other hand was very different to her son. She was slender and very average looking, although Bella had always thought she wore the look of someone who had a bad smell floating non-stop under their nose. She too, owned beady mud coloured eyes, but had high cheekbones which stuck out dangerously when she smiled, which luckily, was remarkable rare. Mr Fawlen was again very different to both his wife and son. He was frighteningly tall, muscular and owned a rather handsome face. Which at times led Bella to think he could have done better than his know it all wife and bully of a son. However, that was until Mr Fawlen opened his mouth, spoke his disgusting thoughts about everyone else in world (his family were not exempt to his nasty bitching), and then Bella realised the whole family suited one another perfectly.

Although Bella's adopted parents were never cruel to her, they never showed her any sign of love or any feeling at all. It had been made clear from the moment she was able to understand anything, that she had been adopted and that their only _real_ child was Ivan. It was as though she was an occupant in their home and just _there_ like any other object within their large, uncomfortable house - the smallest room in the attic being her bedroom. Ivan, on the other hand, had a different approach to letting Bella know what he thought of her and showed Bella much more feeling than she would have liked. Nasty asides were thrown in her direction at least three times _an hour_ (when possible) about her face, hair, _anything_ really and were accompanied every now and then with a kick showing plainly how Ivan felt about his adopted sister – pure hatred. Because of this, Bella practically lived in her room and it had become a sanctuary for her in times of need and rest (which were all too often in the Fawlen house). She'd also managed to take a discarded chair from one of the unused rooms to barricade her bedroom door from unwanted visitors. Such as Ivan.

He didn't exactly have the best social skills but somehow he had managed to befriend the nastiest (not including Ivan) person in school and when it was time to annoy Bella he was usually accompanied by her. And she was none other than Bella's eternal tormentor - Jessica Reeves. Now Jessica Reeves was one of those girls that you were sure to steer away from if you passed them in the school corridor, her appearance mirroring that of a bird – a very ugly, dangerously evil bird. She had a beak for a nose and thin slits of a mouth, which were barely detectable as she kept them snapped shut in a line across her face, whilst holding a uniquely sour expression. At all times. She spoke in a constant sneer to all those she looked down upon (everyone) and had no friends. Yet had a single ally and a nightmare inducing ally at that – Ivan. Those two combined were enough to make anyone lock themselves in a room, let alone Bella who (to be honest) preferred her own company above anyone else's and especially that of enemy number 1 and 2 (although she had yet to decide which one out of the pair got the number 1 spot).

With a flutter of the eyelashes Bella snapped out of her reverie. Bubbles, the cat, was still pawing at her bed, so after a gentle stroke she released his paw and shoved him out of the way. But as she did a bead of sweat fell from Bella's forehead onto the hand which still held her necklace. Collapsing back into the comfort of her blankets Bella wiped her face and released the necklace. _Why!_ She thought, going over the details of the dream that had tormented her for as long as she could remember. Lately the dreams were growing so strong that _they_ almost caught her. Bella had had that dream since as long as she could remember. But only in the past week had her followers been in the same place as her, at the same time as her and in the one place she never wanted to be. She had always known in her dream that they were searching for her, like some sort of sixth sense where she could feel them tracing her every move, but now they were so close to catching her that Bella's pursuers were turning the dream into a terrifying nightmare. Sighing Bella closed her eyes, and wished she had someone to talk to, a friend maybe or simply someone who would listen. Just to get the dream off her chest. And although Bella preferred her own company, she had always wished to belong in a world, instead of one where she seemed to be on the outside looking in, a visitor in a place that she could never call home.

Rolling onto her side Bella peered reluctantly at her alarm clock. She groaned loudly. It was 7. _Time to get up_ she thought miserably, covering her mouth with the back of her hand in a failed attempt at stifling her yawn which made her eyes water. Bella's nightmares left her feeling as if she hadn't slept and so was exhausted before her day had even begun. She pushed her covers aside and felt a shiver ripple down her spine as she clambered out of bed and took the single step toward the tiny window. Bella pulled the curtain aside lazily and let the light of day-break fall on her room. It was a beautiful day. Her bedroom was tiny with about enough space to take two steps in all directions. Her bed was placed between her door and window, while her wardrobe was next to the window on the wall facing Bella's bed. All over her walls she had posters of her favourite bands which she had managed to get from left over magazines that Mrs Fawlen had read, with a desk in the corner of her room next to her brown door. On top of the desk laid Bella's most treasured possessions; her CD's, the many second hand books she had bought (which had taken months and months of saving for her to buy), and her school books piled messily all over the left side of the desk. Bella may not have been able to call the house home, but in the room where she practically lived, when listening to her music and reading one of her favourite books, she could almost call the tiny space her makeshift home.

Staring out of her window Bella's eyes were on Sand Wood forest where all of her nightmares had taken place. Ever since she had been forced to go and live with her adopted "_family"_, Bella had been terrified of the very sight of the forest, although she would never admit it, because Bella Hadlow would never give anything about herself away. Mr and Mrs Fawlen however were not stupid (not very stupid) and it wasn't that hard to tell what Bella's worst fear was, seen as whenever you mentioned the word forest her head shot in the direction of the Sand Wood forest and her whole body shook compulsively. Saying the word over and over again became Ivan's favourite game after he realised this, which took him a while because _he was_ very stupid, and before he simply thought that the thing he called an adopted sister or the weirdo that lived in his attic, was a freak that liked to shake a lot. Bella didn't know what it was that scared her about that particular place, but the way it rejected light and the feeling that it was dead somehow, although she knew life must be in there (after all trees were living), she was sure had something to do with it.

Today on a very rare occasion, Bella found that the forest was not as scary to her as it usually was. The darkness had melted from it as the light reflected off the snowy ground, and the forest didn't seem quite as menacing with snow layered on top of every tree forming a delicate blanket over it, as if it were keeping Sand Wood forest warm. _Christmas soon,_ Bella thought grudgingly, the snow reminded her. She didn't like holidays or any type of celebration, they were for families or people you cared deeply about, exchanging gifts that represented the love you felt for one another. Bella had never been given a gift and had only ever given three, a toy car to Ivan, a pair of socks to Mr Fawlen and a tea pot to Mrs Fawlen, all of which she had spent her only ever pocket money on. Bella had been six years old when she had given them. Never being given a present herself, she assumed that she wasn't old enough to get presents, and so she was overjoyed at being able to give presents of her own. Bella however, was devastated when she found them in the bin the following day. She hadn't bothered with buying presents for them since. As Bella had stared into the bin with tears threatening to stream down her face, it was the first time she truly longed for her mum and dad, the first time she understood what she didn't have and the moment when she knew that she could never call the people she lived with a family.

Bella's family had been destroyed before she even knew she had one. She had never known her parents, Rosa and Luke Hadlow; because they had died before she could remember them. A simple locket, within which a single photograph lay, a pair of Pointe shoes and her father's journal was all she had to treasure the parents that she never knew. However, seen as Bella had never been able to take dance classes, she could only look at the shoes adoringly, too terrified to try them on, and the key was never found to her father's journal, so the only real thing Bella had as a reminder of her parents was the locket which she cherished above all else and never, ever, ever took off. Looking at the photograph in the locket it was clear that Bella was her mother's daughter, she was fair with eyes where the colour could not be truly defined. They looked like a beautiful green from afar, but as you got closer you could see the blue and red colours that twisted themselves among others to form the unnameable colour that was truly her own. Her skin didn't need make-up and her cheeks glowed a slight pink. However, Bella had her father's hair colour, a dark brown that shone in the sun, it was wavy and could never quite be tamed but suited her perfectly - no matter how much she inwardly disliked it.

Bella opened her locket as her thoughts turned to her mother and father, like they did frequently, and gazed longingly at her family, her as a baby in her mother's arms whilst her father smiled handsomely at the camera.

"I love you." She whispered, a tear in her eye.

Walking away from her window, Bella opened the door and waited for Ivan's cat Darcy to vacate her room before leaving. As Darcy, the jet black and extremely fluffy cat strutted out of her room, she spotted the date on her calendar. _One month to go before I'm 17 years old_ she thought with no anticipation at all. Her birthday was just another day where Bella would be ignored and the Fawlen family would most likely not even know it was her birthday. Bella only knew because she had found her birth certificate screwed up in a box with her name on it, as well as _Trash_ written in Bold, when she was 7 years old. She also found her parent's belongings in the box and before that she had been told her age every year, but as Bella was only a little girl then she didn't really keep track of her age anyway. As Bella closed the door behind her and Darcy, she didn't see the curtains open themselves, her bed make itself, or the cross that suddenly appeared on her calendar counting down the remaining days until her 17th Birthday.

Bella walked down the cramped attic stairs and along the second floor corridor, _spare room one, spare room two, spare room three, Ivan's room, bathroom, Mr and Mrs Fawlen's room ... Damn! _She thought as she hit her foot on the cabinet that was, in her opinion, very ill placed, before limping slightly down the stairs. The Fawlen's house was very large, perfectly tidy, freezing cold and in no way Bella's home. _Living room, sitting room, dining room, bathroom, play room, kitchen_, she thought with a sigh as she walked past the numerous doors that lead off the large unfriendly hallway. She pushed open the white door directly in front of her and stepped down into the kitchen.

"Ten past 7. Such a lazy girl. Now, what have I told you Bella. Ivan needs his breakfast at half past. It is _essential_ that he eats at the same time every day to keep his metabolism working correctly. You are already running late. For goodness sake child what is the matter with you?" Mrs Fawlen moaned at Bella, shooing her in the direction of the stove.

"I'm sorry, I ..." stuttered Bella.

"Just get on with it." Mrs Fawlen interrupted sharply. "Oh, and don't forget that Dominique has already gone to work, so you don't need to put on that extra porridge, he was in such a rush when he left this morning. Shame you weren't thoughtful enough to get up early for him and make him breakfast, but there you are. Not everyone is blessed with manners as outstanding as Ivan's. What a lovely child he is ..."

Bella blocked out the rest of Mrs Fawlen's speech. She knew roughly what it would sound like, Ivan this and Ivan that. You'd think he was perfect.

"...and _so_ handsome, Mrs Frost even said so last week. Don't burn it!" She screeched.

"I know." Replied Bella curtly. Every day Mrs Fawlen would say the same thing when the porridge started to smoke, or when the bacon started to sizzle, but she had never (as far as Bella knew) cooked in her life, so she actually had no idea whether the breakfast or dinner for that matter was burning or not.

BANG! Ivan came hurtling through the door, and Mrs Fawlen laughed at her 'boisterous' son - Bella cringed internally.

"Morning _mother_," he said emphasising the fact that Mrs Fawlen was his mum and reminding Bella that she didn't have one, "where's my breakfast?" He added with a brat like tone seeping through his voice.

"Morning darling, she is just dishing it up," replied Mrs Fawlen, catching the look on her sons face she added, "don't worry she knows to be on time tomorrow."

Bella rolled her eyes and handed Ivan his breakfast and a cup of tea to Mrs Fawlen. She grabbed her own toast, and after dodging a kick from her beloved brother, walked out of the room. Back in her bedroom she put on her school uniform, a plain grey skirt with a navy jumper and blazer, before putting her favourite music in Ivan's old CD player and lying back on her beautifully made bed. Humming along to the music Bella twiddled her necklace between her fingers, _did I make my bed?_ She suddenly thought, the fact that it was perfectly tidy finally dawning on her. _Must have_,she decided knowing that no one else would have made it. She sat there daydreaming about escaping from the house, thinking of replies to questions she would be asked by passers-by as she fled the cage she was forced to live in. This had been a frequent daydream of Bella's for as long as she could remember, but as she got older it had turned into a thought out plan, rather than just a little's girls stupid dream, like being a princess when they grow up. Bella jumped out of her reverie and sat up as she heard a drawn out scream from bellow her, it sounded like a screeching cat that was either being strangle or tortured. _I bet that stupid brat didn't get his way for something again and now the whole entire world will have to suffer like always from his screaming and crying and winging ..._ Ivan screamed again.

"Shut Up!" Bella spoke the words as though she was an angry parent about to explode through exasperation, her voice was calm but full of authority. _Wow,_ she thought as the screaming stopped, _that was weird_. She sank back onto her bed trying to listen to her music once again before...

"Oh my ... my ... goodness, my b ... baby boy, what is it? What's h ... happened? Darling speak to me? What is it?" Screamed Mrs Fawlen in a much better imitation of a screeching cat.

Bella, sick of all the noise, got off her bed and switched off her CD player, pushing the off button so hard that her entire desk shook. She stormed out of her room and down the stairs to where all the racket was coming from. Ivan was mouthing numerous words at Mrs Fawlen, who was screaming uncontrollably, but no sound was coming out of his mouth, it was like someone had pressed a mute button. Bella burst into a fit of giggles at the sight, but too concerned to notice her, Mrs Fawlen continued to scream at Ivan to talk to her. _Bet he's putting this on_, she thought after managing to control herself and work herself back into her former irritated state, she was helped by a headache she felt forming from the constant screaming and Ivan's pathetic, childish games.

"Will you just talk already?" Bella shouted over Mrs Fawlen's voice after fifteen minutes of the idiocy had passed.

"I can't," Ivan finally said with a look of utter amazement on his face at being able to talk again, "that's better." He said, words failing him completely, his face the picture of surprise.

_Knew he was faking it_, Bella thought smugly, but still annoyed. Mrs Fawlen thought that her son had been temporarily cursed, and kept flicking her eyes towards Bella as if she had caused his temporary silence, it never occurred to her once that her precious _Ivan darling_ was faking it. All that time they had wasted on the drama king, meant that Bella hadn't had a chance to sort out her room before she was shoved out of the door, just managing to grab her school bag so that she could get the bus to school. That also meant she didn't have time to think through what had just happened, how what she said seemed to have coincidently controlled her brother or in other words her bully. _Need to tidy room, so that's one more chore to add to the never ending list when I get back_, she thought as she remembered the previous evening when Mrs Fawlen had spent at least an hour trying to write a colour coded list of all the chores she wanted Bella to do, and not once thinking she could have spent that hour helping with them. At that very moment the bus arrived and Bella clambered onto it with everyone else at her stop.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Morning kids," said the old, friendly, bus driver as people bundled past him.

_Morning_ Bella thought, because she couldn't say it out loud from the knowledge that someone else on the bus would hear her and laugh at her for it. She went and sat in her usual seat, the one downstairs at the very front with at least three empty seats surrounding it, this she thought was the safest place to be. Although Bella was pretty, she was picked on because if anyone was nice to her, Ivan made sure they became the schools laughing stock. This meant people weren't _ever_ nice to her and over compensated by acting to her like Ivan did. However, Bella didn't really mind this, because it only really happened on the bus to school, and at break time, but at lunch and in lessons she could get away. At lunch Bella usually went for a walk and because most people had friends at school they chose to stay in and eat, so she was free for at least one hour every day. In class people just ignored her, which she didn't mind, but it could get annoying if another student was supposed to hand worksheets out and just walked past her like she was invisible. Bella was also clever. She was actually very clever, especially in subjects like maths and science which meant that they were her favourites. Teachers loved her, mostly because she was a model student, but mainly because when she spoke to them she spoke with great maturity, as if she was an adult.

Bella's school was only about a fifteen minute journey on the bus without traffic, but as most people were off to work at around half seven, traffic was usually pretty bad in the morning. This morning however it was very bad because of the snow, hitching Bella's bad mood up a notch because it meant she had to spend more time in solitude on the bus, _Ouch!_ She thought, automatically raising a hand to the back of her head and wincing where something had been thrown at her. She turned round to see a group of girls sniggering and trying not to look in her eyes, but one of the more confident girls, Raylee Moss, said,

"Lally, isn't it? Got a problem?" Raylee's voice was overly sarcastic and she had a snide expression smothering her already ugly face.

"Bella. It's Ratty right? And your face is the only problem I have thanks." Bella matched Raylee's sarcasm and couldn't help but grin as she heard all the boys, who were sitting opposite the girls, fall around in fits of hysterics.

"Would you like to say that to my face?" She retorted standing up and moving out from her seat.

"I think she just did." Replied Jamie Hughes as he too stood up and moved away from his seat so he was blocking Raylee's access to Bella.

He stood there and gestured his head towards her seat and winked at Bella when she sat back down. He walked over to where she was sitting and sat in the empty seat behind her.

"Thanks," she said shyly, turning her body so that she could face him comfortably, "I think that's the fifth time you've saved me this week." She added playfully.

"That's ok. I enjoy saving damsels in distress, I'm thinking of it as a career actually. What do you think?"

"Well I'm not quite sure if it is a career and I don't think that I am actually classed as a damsel. They are what exactly...?" She asked.

"Simply beautiful." He answered lowering his voice, with a small smile on his lips, ignoring that Bella had just said saving damsels wasn't a career. "So yes, I think you definitely class as a damsel," He continued gazing directly into Bella's eyes and making her blush a bright pink, "I look forward to saving you again soon."

Winking at her he stood up and got his bag before walking off the bus with his friends who were wolf whistling at him. Bella picked up her bag and threw it over her shoulder, she saw the start of a snow ball fight and rushed off the bus just avoiding one as she entered the school gates. No one had ever called her beautiful before, or looked at her the way Jamie had. Bella had only recently met him, he had moved to her schools 6th form in the September of the new school year when she had moved into year 12. Since then he had helped her out on many occasions, sticking up for her whenever she needed help and as he was already ridiculously popular, people had even started laying off her. Jamie was 18, tall and had dark brown trendy hair, with tanned skin and a welcoming smile. He was the only person that had ever been nice to Bella, and there was something about him that made her comfortable around him (when he wasn't embarrassing her with compliments), something that she had never felt before.

When Bella's lessons had finally started, the day flew by. She was in a daydream through periods 1 and 2 (English and Geography), but broke out of it for break where she saw Jamie again who gave her a cheeky smile. She enjoyed maths period 3 as they were working on algebra (her favourite), and her History lesson was over so quickly Bella thought the teacher was joking when he said that it was time for lunch. Bella walked through the bustling corridor to her form room and took her lunch out of her bag and shoved her books in her locker before making her way to the schools exit.

"Bella," called a familiar voice.

Bella turned to see Jamie slightly jogging towards her. Her face alight with a smile before he had even reached her.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Do you want to eat lunch with me?" He asked confidently, like this was something he would never be refused, but after seeing the reluctance in Bella's eyes he said... "Or maybe some other time." His smile fading from his face.

"No, I'd really like to it's just ... I don't like eating in school." Bella replied honestly, hoping she hadn't hurt his feelings.

"Oh," he said perking up and smiling broadly at her again. "Where are we eating then?"

Bella couldn't help smiling in return and led him out of school to a deserted park where she ate frequently under one of the large trees, but as it was cold and the ground was still covered in snow, she made her way to the faded red hut beside the swing, it had a couple of seats inside and a small table that they could eat their lunch at. She sat down on one side and Jamie sat on the other. She caught his eye when he was looking at her and blushed looking away, he simply smiled again.

"Nice," he said looking around the hut, "do you eat in here often?"

"Not really I like sitting under that tree," she pointed to the large oak across the park, "but it's snowing so here is better."

"Alone?" He asked gently, looking at her face as Bella took out her sandwich and took a bite.

"Yeah." She replied again honestly. _Does he think I'm a freak now? I bet he does. Why can't I be like everyone else? I bet he never talks to me again now. What if he just walks away from me?_

"Cool." He said smiling.

Bella didn't know what to say, she thought he would have been a bit freaked out to know that she had no friends, but looking into his eyes she saw only admiration and something else that she couldn't quite place. They both ate their lunch talking about school and Jamie's family. His mum, Caron, his little sister, Ivory, and that his dad had left before he could remember, so his mum didn't like to talk about him, meaning he didn't know his name.

"I'm sorry." Bella said, reaching over instinctively and putting her hand on top of his, Jamie turned his and entwined his fingers between hers, while Bella blushed even deeper scarlet than what she had previously done in the morning.

"What about your family?" He asked casually, while watching her face as he stroked her hand with his thumb.

"I don't have one. I was adopted. Ivan Fawlen is my brother by adoption." Bella reeled off like speaking about her living status was just an unimportant list she happened to be reading.

Jamie was so shocked his jaw literally dropped.

"I never knew," he stuttered, "no wonder he is so nasty to you, that little brat. It's obvious now why he hates, and bullies you so much more that everyone else. You must hate each other." He replied once he had recovered from shock.

"Very true. I don't think anyone knows about it though, really. Ivan won't admit it and to be honest I prefer it that way, swings?" She asked casually.

"Sure." He replied smiling again, but with a questioning look on his face. He knew she wasn't telling him something and that she was avoiding his questions, but he didn't want to push her too much.

Bella was glad when he stopped asking questions. She didn't mind him knowing that she was adopted, but the fact that her parents were dead, she didn't want anyone to know. Bella sat on one of the swings and Jamie stood behind her and pushed her gently while she laughed indulgently. Bella had never had a friend and finally felt as though she did, she didn't understand that Jamie's looks were of more than friendship, _she_ saw Jamie as a friend, maybe someday a best friend, one that she could tell about her parents. But Jamie was nothing more than a friend. _He's so lovely_, she thought to herself as they laughed together at the swings.

Later that night, while Bella cooked a Spanish omelette for dinner after she had done all her chores, she couldn't help thinking about her cinema trip that Saturday. _What should I wear?_ She thought, remembering how Jamie had caught up with her after school as they got on the bus, and asked her if she was busy this Saturday.

"No." Bella had replied, wondering what he was getting at.

"Good. Because there is this film that is supposed to be amazing on in town, and I was wondering if you wanted to go and see it with me?" Jamie had asked, his eyes showing how much he wanted her to say yes.

"Really?" Bella asked, but as Jamie nodded his head she replied casually, "Ok. I'll look forward to it."

Bella smiled to herself as she flipped the omelette, recalling the huge grin that spread across Jamie's face once she had accepted his invitation. She had never been to the cinemas before and couldn't wait to go, _having a friend is great_, she thought as an unfamiliar, warm fuzzy feeling spread through her body. Happiness. That feeling soon dissolved as an echo of the front door slamming reached her ears. The dinner wasn't quite ready, Mr Fawlen was home, and now Bella was in massive trouble. She cringed as she heard his footprints approaching the kitchen door. Slam!

"Where is my dinner child?" He asked throwing the door open.

"It's almost ready, Mr Fawlen." Bella replied keeping her eyes on the dinner.

"Dinner is to be on the table at 6. How many times do I have to tell you, are you an idiot? Of course you are. Don't know what we were thinking adopting you, you can't cook, you can't clean, and you're as thick as two short planks. I spend my day working hard to keep you fed, and this is how you repay me. You can't even do one simple ..." Ranted Mr Fawlen, his voice echoing in the house like an alarm bell was ringing.

"Shut up you stupid old man," muttered Bella.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Screamed Mr Fawlen as his wife and son entered the room.

"Shut up you stupid old man," she said louder looking straight in his eyes – she had had enough. "Don't start either," she added facing Mrs Fawlen who had opened her mouth to yell at her.

"You ungrateful cow." Spat Ivan.

"You ugly pig." Replied Bella her patience so close to snapping.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Mrs Fawlen cried.

"It's ok dear, it's the parents see." Mr Fawlen said calming his wife. "She has simply inherited her mother's stupidity, her father's pettiness, and that their lives meant _nothing_, just like her meaningless existence." Mr Fawlen sneered, he smiled as he saw the pain etch across Bella's face because of the way he had just spoken of her parents.

Bella felt pain, a terrible gut wrenching agony that turned slowly to hate as she watched her adopted family laughing at her parent's memories. Snap. Bella's patience had finally been ripped in two.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Bella shouted as she picked up the frying pan and launched the burning hot omelette at Mr Fawlen's face.

As Mr Fawlen screamed in pain, Bella managed to duck and dive her way out of the kitchen. She sprinted along the hallway, up the stairs, along the landing, up the attic stairs, and into her bedroom. _Door_, she thought, but turning to find no chair there to block it, she started to panic as she heard three sets of footsteps on the landing. _I've got to get out of here_. Bella grabbed a rucksack from under her bed, and pulling all her clothes out of her wardrobe at once, shoved them in. _I need more room_, she thought desperately, but as she did so she seemed to have more space in her bag. Not even noticing this Bella shoved everything else that she owned into the bag (not a lot). She ran to her bedroom widow and hoisted it open.

"Where do you think you're going?" Snarled Mr Fawlen venomously, a dangerous glint in his eye, and his face bright red (either from rage or the burning omelette, Bella couldn't tell). He was standing in her doorway with Mrs Fawlen and Ivan.

"GET OUT!" Bella shouted pointing at them.

The door slammed in their faces, and a cry of pain came from Ivan.

"My head." He cried.

Bella was so shocked at what had just happened that she stood there for a second trying to register it. _The door ... I ... no ... but ... just get out!_ She told herself. Climbing out of her window, Bella slipped slightly on the snow, but rebalanced herself as she slid her way down the slanted roof. She reached the sturdy trellis and was careful not to look down because she was terrified of heights, as she clambered her way down to the snowy floor Bella could hear someone running back down the stairs. _What now?_ She asked herself. _In the forest,_ her thoughts replied._ I can't ... I ... it's almost dark ... no I won't_, Bella's thoughts stammered.

"I'm going to kill her when we find her!"

Bella could hear Mr Fawlen's voice through the downstairs window. _He's coming_, Bella thought as a jolt of fear hit her. Not even thinking about what she was doing, adrenaline taking over, Bella ran to the bottom of the long extravagantly decorated garden, and jumped the short fence that was the only barrier to Sand Wood Forest. _NO!_ Bella stopped dead on the spot, she heard the back door open and made her decision – she ran into the forest.

To Bella it felt as though the temperature had suddenly dropped, and that someone had just switched off the lights. She stumbled through the forest tripping every now and again. The slightest sound made her stop walking and stay dead still until she was sure that she had imagined it, but she could sense that someone was near. She was petrified, her body shook with fear as she continued to walk deeper into the forest, but at last she could walk no more. Exhausted after running and walking through the difficult forest, Bella saw a large tree and slumped down resting against it. Her situation suddenly dawned on her. _I have no food, no water, no idea where I am, I'm freezing cold_, she thought hopelessly, closing her eyes.

"Help," she whispered lifelessly to no one but herself.

As Bella opened her eyes, they were suddenly glued to a face that she thought should not be so ... so ... WOW. Airbrushed skin had nothing on the sheer flawlessness of his, not a blemish, not a hint of anything less than absolute ... WOW. Bella wasn't usually lost for words, but his skin was unspoiled perfection, ever so slightly pale, but still warm in tone, it was like he was a light in the dark. He had dark brown, tousled hair and it reminded her of the stylish male models she saw on the front of Mrs Fawlen's fashion magazines. His eyes were almond shaped in the extreme with such an intelligent expression that made Bella feel inadequate in her own intellectual abilities. That wasn't what held her gaze though; her peripheral vision caught those trivial facts, but what did hold her gaze was the onyx colour and depth of his eyes. She had never seen a pair of eyes so black, where pure darkness was not a worthy comparison to their shade, such intelligence in the mere expression of them, and the depth of his eyes was exceptional. Bella just didn't understand. He was also tall, much taller than Bella, and she could see his muscular frame through his comfortably fitted clothes that were casual and ordinary, compared to the current situation.

"You shouldn't be here. Not now. Go home." The stranger told Bella making her jump at the sudden sound, his voice melting into the darkness.

"I don't have a home." She replied stubbornly, adding _not one that I plan to go back to anyway_ in her head.

"Everyone has a home." He answered simply.

_Am I dreaming?_ Bella thought, she was so confused that she assumed that she must have fallen asleep by the tree. But something suddenly struck her...

"Why are you here?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the side and frowning, her dreams where usually of things she knew, or had seen before. _He's the one who has been following me in the nightmares_, she summarised, concluding that she was definitely dreaming.

"If you are not going home then I think you should come with me, it's not safe." He said completely ignoring her question, as he started to walk towards her.

"I agree." _But only that it's not safe_.

Bella shot up from where she had been resting and started to walk backwards as quickly as she could, trying to distance herself from the stranger. He looked exasperated as he opened his mouth to speak again but no sound came out as Bella heard a familiar sound echoing throughout the forest. Her followers were approaching. In her moment of lacking concentration, her eyes had dropped from the stranger and when she looked back he was directly in front of her, if she leant an inch forward they would be touching. _How is that even possible_, Bella thought. He had moved about 20 feet in a split second, the time it takes to breathe in, _I didn't even hear him move_. She stood and looking up gazed into his eyes, his dark, and eclipse like eyes for the briefest of moments. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, she couldn't even blink, worried no petrified that if she closed her eyes that she would be alone and they would find her. Feeling herself go dizzy as she was still not breathing, Bella took a deep breath, _relief_...

"We have to go." He pulled Bella tight to his chest so she could feel his strong body against hers.

Bella felt light headed again. _Have I stopped breathing completely? _Her whole body was dissolving. No, shaking. He was gone. Or was she gone? Bella couldn't tell. She felt like she had been plunged into a bucket of ice cold water, before she felt warm again, she had stopped shaking and could feel the stranger still holding her tightly. There was still darkness, but Bella could tell she was no longer in the forest, where she was however, she had no idea. The stranger let go of her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Bella opened her eyes to see that she was in someone's living room, it was quite dark and lit only by a lamp. There were comfy sofa's placed around the room, with a large ornate fireplace on one side, and the biggest plasma screen that she had ever seen on the other. She only just registered that the stranger was in the room with her, and as she stepped away from him she stumbled into a chair that was right behind her. Bella's mind was blank and she wished she was dreaming, but somehow she knew that this was as real as her beating heart.

"Where ... where am I?" She asked finally looking deep into the stranger's eyes.

"My house." He replied sitting in the sofa opposite her, his face was expressionless, but his eyes were annoyed for a reason unknown to Bella.

"And you are?" she asked, finally realising she didn't know his name.

"Edward Night."

As he answered, Bella shook from the cold, even though the room she was in was warmer than the forest. Edward, seeing this, turned his head towards the fire which roared to life at the gesture, causing Bella to jump in her seat. The fire gave a new light to the room, making it warmer in tone as well as temperature and it started to feel like a home more than a house.

"How did you ..." she began but changed her question to a more pressing one, "how did we get here?"

"We emerged," he stated, adding "it's where you materialise from one place to another," before she had the chance to ask.

"Oh." Was all Bella could say, she wanted to ask him what he was (he was obviously not normal, maybe not even human) but she didn't want to sound rude.

They sat in silence for a while, he was contemplating how to explain to Bella what was going on, she was watching a mingle of expressions on his face, although annoyance was the dominant one. _Have I done something wrong_, she assumed, but as she did so she remembered her earlier confusion. He had been in the forest with her.

"Why were you in the forest?" She asked pulling him from his thoughts.

"Because you were." He replied plainly, not even looking at her.

Bella started to get annoyed, he was not telling her everything and she knew it.

"That's a short answer for something so strange. I would have thought that there would be a longer explanation." She snapped back at him.

"Looks like you thought wrong," he answered rudely - still refusing to look at her.

"Tell me what's going on!" she raised her voice trying to urge him to look at her, when this failed she shouted, "LOOK AT ME!"

Edward removed his gaze from the fire and looked briefly into her eyes before the room's door burst open and a girl around the same age as Bella walked in. She was about Bella's height with a rose pinned into her dark, short hair. Her eyes were a bright green, which could be easily seen next to her pale skin, she had a small figure and looked as if she was about to shout too.

"What's ..." the girl started sharply, "oh, hi," she finished changing her voice to one of welcome when she noticed Bella, and then decided to go and sit in the empty chair in the far corner of the room.

As the girl turned her head towards Edward, he answered her unspoken questions, and it dawned on Bella why he had looked so annoyed.

"_She_ seemed to think that an adventure would be fun, and decided to run away from her family ..."

"They are not my family." Bella interjected, but he simply ignored her._ I don't think I like you very much,_ she thought.

"... into Sand Wood Forest - when it was dark. She called for help and when I got there, they had almost found her. I had to bring her here, anywhere else and she wouldn't have been safe." Edward concluded, he sounded like he was trying to justify why he'd brought Bella to their house.

"I didn't call for help." Bella said indignantly.

"I understand why, but have you told her anything? She needs to know soon Edward." The girl said in a reproving tone, completely ignoring Bella again.

"Tell me what?"

"No not yet. I'm not sure if I should." Edward looked thoughtfully at Bella.

"Tell me now or I'm leaving." Bella said stubbornly, she was sick of their secrecy.

The girl shifted upright in her seat and started telling Bella things that she didn't understand. She heard weird words like Hexian as well as the words Keeper and Tracker in completely the wrong context, but Edward stopped her before Bella could really understand what she was saying.

"Stop," he said to the girl, Bella saw her jump slightly as if she were snapping out of a trance.

"What ... oh ... huh?" The girl looked confused.

"She let herself get too emotional and used her powers on you. You started telling her everything." Edward laughed slightly.

"Sorry, but you know I couldn't help it." She looked ashamed at some weakness she had apparently shown.

Bella watched them talking still too confused to speak... _powers?_

"This is my sister, Abi ..." Edward said, finally talking to Bella.

"Just tell me what's going on." Bella interrupted.

"That's what I am doing. We," he continued, "are known as Keepers. You are known as a Hexian and those people you heard in the forest chasing you, are called Trackers."

"Well done. You were very subtle." Abi laughed, rolling her eyes.

Bella laughed too, she was sure he was joking, he was using ordinary words in the wrong context and making them sound all weird. Edward frowned at her and she stopped laughing straight away, something about the way he looked scared Bella into silence and she was sure he was being serious. Bella really didn't like him at all.

"And what exactly are they?" She asked sceptically.

He rolled his eyes like Abi, but he did it in impatience.

"You can't expect her to know about us, she's been living with them her whole life. She never even knew her parents. Be patient." Abi reproached her brother.

"A Keeper is a powerful being that has powers normal humans don't. They usually have a single power which aids them in the protection of their Hexian, who is known as a Keepers charge. They are paired with a link through fate, or something that we have yet to discover. Now a Hexian," he nodded towards Bella, "is an extremely powerful being that can do anything. And I mean literally anything, if strong enough and when able to control their powers - you inherited yours from your parents. However, there are limits to their powers because not all can be unlocked by every Hexian, as some Hexian's are more powerful than others. There are also evil beings called Trackers," as he said this his eyes became even darker (if possible) and Bella shivered involuntarily, "who have been breed as power hungry creatures that desire the powers Hexian's have. A Tracker is linked with a Hexian, in a similar way to a Keeper and their Hexian, charge. A Tracker can only take that specific Hexian's power, and they have just enough power of their own to do it. But for them to take the power, they have to kill the Hexian and to stop a Tracker you have to destroy it too."

Something suddenly clicked in Bella's head.

"Can they find me?"

"Yes. They ..."

"Were the ones in the forest, the ones in my dream." She said, finishing his sentence, "and you found me too, when I said help. Which I didn't really mean by the way." Bella added, she didn't like being weak.

"Yes." Edward smiled, apparently pleased that she was finally catching on.

"I take it you're 17 soon then?" Abi asked, reminding Bella that she was in the room.

"Yeah, but how did you know?"

"Hexian's receive their full power at 17, before then they are able to have and use some of it, but nothing compared to when they pass the age of power. So when a Hexian is around 16 they can start to be tracked, because their power starts building from around that age." Edward replied.

"So, not only my Keeper can find me, but my Tracker can too, the one that wants to kill me." Bella's face dropped – surely this wasn't real.

"Yes but your Keeper is there to protect you from that until you are ready," Edward said earnestly, "me. Hexian's also have the ability to use their powers, so that they can live forever, and they ..."

"If they live forever then why did my parents die?" Bella had asked the question before she could stop herself and regretted it before she had even finished the question.

An awkward silence filled the room, Edward looked at Abi and she nodded.

"They were killed by their Trackers." He whispered, Bella didn't understand why he did this, _is he worried the sound will hurt more than the words_, she thought.

"How?" Somehow she couldn't believe that her parents could be killed by Trackers, she had always imagined them so strong - together for eternity.

"I'm not able to discuss this, it isn't the right time and you aren't ready to know."

"I think it is and I am. They were my parents - I deserve to know." Bella really didn't like Edward. _How dare he not tell me how my own parents died._

"As your Keeper, it is my job to protect you." He said, his face showing no expression, angering Bella more.

"This is how you choose to protect me?" Bella asked sarcastically.

"Yes it is." He said smirking.

"Will you two stop bickering, you sound like a pair of toddlers arguing over toys." Abi said interrupting their argument.

Bella glared at Edward who was still smirking, now almost smiling. She really wanted to just get out of the house, but was now too terrified of being attacked if she did. Bella stopped glaring at him and turned her head towards the fire.

"So that's how you did it?" She murmured to herself and turning back to Edward saw he was still looking at her.

"Did what?" He said innocently as if he was trying to redeem himself from the previous argument.

"The ermi ... egerm ..."

"Emerging."

"Yes, that and the fire. Because you're my Keeper." She said triumphantly as more puzzle pieces clicked into place inside her head.

"Well done, round of applause?" He asked overly sarcastic, Bella scowled in response and Abi just pulled a face, struggling not to laugh at them.

"Well," she said after controlling herself, "would you like to meet the rest of our family?"

Bella was taken aback, she hadn't once thought that there were other people in the house. She hadn't heard anyone else and neither Edward nor Abi had mentioned that they even had a family when they were explaining to her.

"Sure." She replied not knowing what else to say.

"They're in the front room."

Abi stood up and walked across the room to the door, she opened it and stood waiting for Bella. Bella got up at the same time as Edward who held out his hand in a polite gesture, letting her go before him, he had a huge mocking smile on his beautiful face, _oh for goodness sake, could anyone be more annoying and horrible but be any better looking_? She stormed past him and as she went through the door took in a sharp breathe. _W ... O ...W._ She spelled the word out in her mind.

Bella had walked into a massive, open and bright room, the complete opposite to the cosy, fire lit one that she had just been in. There was a large seating area in the middle, with an elegant piano on a raised platform just behind it, however the main focal point of the room was the spiralling staircase that led to a balcony on the second floor. It had a white gleaming railing that followed the curve of the stairs perfectly until the balcony halted at the end of the landing on the second floor.

"Over here." Abi called from across the room.

She was standing outside one of the many doors waiting for Bella to stop staring around the room and follow her. Bella felt a nudge in her back, as to urge her forward, but she turned around and looked darkly into Edward's eyes before joining Abi across the room. _Who does he think he is touching me?_ Disbelief etched in her thoughts,_ I can't believe I am actually here, meeting some random person's family (in his house) because he tells me he is protecting me, my Keeper. I know someone was following me, but this is all a bit ... no ... I know Edward and Abi are telling the truth. That thing he did, emerging, and the fire. That was real. I heard them coming, the Trackers, and they have been so close this past week, now I'm near 15 just like Abi said. I have to trust them,_ Bella told herself,_ it's all going to be ok._

Abi opened the door, inside there were 3 seats in the corners of the room, another fireplace and the same large TV placed on the wall reminded her of the small living room she had been in. This room was a lot bigger though and didn't feel as homely to Bella. As she walked in she noticed there were two boys in the room, who looked older than Edward (Layla was assuming he was about 18 or 19), and Edward's parents.

The boy in the seat nearest to Bella in the left corner of the room was about 20, he had blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that shone in a peculiar way, he looked tall (even though he was sitting down) and was very muscular. He was wearing jeans and a blue top that matched his eyes perfectly...

"That's Dan," Abi said nodding towards the boy that Bella had been looking at.

He smiled to Bella, showing a set of perfect teeth – she blushed. The other boy had light brown hair with streaks of blonde running through it, his eyes were the same blue as the others but they had less of a sparkle and more of a glimmer to them. A tight top showed he was muscular too, but Bella could tell he was smaller than Edward and Dan. He looked about the same age as Edward (which she didn't actually know), and he was sitting there, seeming to make a black pebble turn and twist in the air with only his eyes. Bella watched the pebble fall into his hand as Abi coughed, the boy's attention turning to them.

"That's Liam," Abi said shaking her head slightly as him as if telling him off.

But Bella didn't mind him using his powers in front of her, _he must be a Keeper too_, she thought understanding at once that the whole family obviously were. Feeling uncomfortable from Liam's stare Bella turned to look at the two more adult looking people in the room.

"And these are my parents, Ava and Callum." Abi concluded smiling broadly at them.

Ava had jet black, shoulder length hair and had the same blue eyes as her sons. She wore a bright red, fitted dress which contrasted with her hair showing her curvier figure. She sat relaxed next to her husband and Bella realised that she had obviously interrupted on a conversation they had been having. Bella's eyes flitted to Callum, Ava's husband, who on the other hand had bright green eyes, with the same blonde hair Bella had seen on Dan, and Callum was by far the tallest but not the most muscular out of the boys (Dan filled this quota, but Edward wasn't far behind).

"Hi," grinned Dan, as Ava reassuringly said "hello."

"You ok," asked Callum sincerely, while Liam added "sup" with a nod of the head.

Bella laughed at Liam's 'hello' and everyone visibly relaxed at the sound.

"Hi," she replied, looking to each of them in turn as she said it.

"How are you doing?" Callum asked looking genuinely concerned.

"Fine," she lied, but she saw that Callum could see through the lie, and added "it's a lot to take in that's all."

"We know dear, we were expecting you soon, but hoped you'd be told about everything before you came here," sighed Ava.

"Oh." Bella said simply, she didn't know that her going to this house had been predetermined and apparently she wouldn't have had a choice.

Callum was very perceptive and seemed to read Bella's mind, "you couldn't have done your training at your old home, and it would have been awkward to keep coming and going. It's just much safer for you to stay here." He explained trying to justify Ava's assumption.

_Training?_ Bella's mind twisted the word into a question, _what training? No one said anything about training, training for what?_ Her head was spinning with all the new questions that kept popping up in her mind.

"Training?" She asked at last.

"You know... your training with me," Edward prompted, "your Hexian training," he looked so frustrated that Bella would have laughed if he hadn't been talking to her like she was stupid.

"I know what I am now thanks." She said bitterly. "But I have no idea what you mean by training, I thought I_ was_ a Hexian I didn't know you have to be trained _into_ one."

"You _are_ a Hexian," he stressed "but unless you can already fully control your power's you're going to need training and your little demonstration on Abi shows you need it."

He waited for Bella to understand and when he finally saw that she had, he turned his head looking away from her, Bella scowled and Edward's parents exchanged a knowing look that she didn't understand.

"What type of lessons?" She asked Callum because she didn't feel like talking to Edward anymore. For someone that was supposed to look after her and earn her trust he wasn't going about it in the right way.

"You know, hours of book reading because of the hundreds of equations you need to learn, oh and you're no longer allowed to eat or drink, because that's a temptation you need to forget about." Liam looked deadly serious, but as Bella's jaw dropped everyone in the room fell about laughing – even Edward.

"He's only joking," Abi giggled "you need to be less gullible around him, even I sometimes don't know when he's being sarcastic or not."

"There are 3 main types of lessons," Edward explained and Bella unwillingly turned back to look at him, "they are all about enabling you to control your power's. The first teaches you how to relax, because when you let your emotions get the better of you, you could potentially do something extremely dangerous and harmful to a perfectly innocent person." His eyed switched to Abi and back to Bella. "The second is about body control and combat, because once you have relaxed and controlled your mind, you should be able to control your body, and therefore your powers. Plus combat is good to learn for any Hexian as some Trackers have the ability to shield from their powers. The third and final type of lesson is where you will put the previous two lessons together and attempt to control your powers accurately in a series of scenarios."

He finished and Bella looked gob smacked, she didn't realise there would be this much to being a Hexian – even though she had only just found out that she was one. Having to do training, shouldn't that type of stuff, like using the powers she apparently had, come naturally?

"I'll also teach you about Hexian's, Keepers, Trackers and other powerful beings as we go along. Oh and you'll do one of each type of lesson per week, commencing on Monday," Edward said formally reminding Bella of her school teachers.

"Hold up a second," something had dawned on her, "isn't this weird. You know, really odd. No offence but I'm now supposed to believe in _powers_ and Keepers and Trackers and these lessons I have to take, it's all so ..."

"We understand." Ava tried to comfort her.

"Again, no offence but I don't know any of you and I'm supposed to what? Live here now?" She tried not to sound rude, this was all moving way too fast, a couple of hours ago she was cooking dinner just like every other normal day.

"We need to protect you for now, until you can protect yourself." Dan tried to explain.

"They won't attack you when you're here, but when you aren't they're sure to." Liam added now serious.

"We know you don't know us, but you know what we say is true, I can see it in your eyes. You will need to trust us and I speak for us all when I say that we welcome you into our home and family." Callum said.

He smiled fondly at Bella and she suddenly felt at home, she had known they were telling the truth after all those odd things that had happened to her, but it was still really weird. The door, the dinner, that time when she was 9 and she really wanted some of Ivan's birthday cake and a piece had magically appeared on her bed, but only now did she fit those events together, _I'm a Hexian_.

Bella answered timidly looking to the whole family, "Thank you and I do trust you, but it's just odd - that's all."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Bella woke in her new bed feeling refreshed and safe for once. She sat up and looked around her clean, gigantic room and smiled to herself. _Wow_, she thought as she looked at the huge wardrobe on the other side of her new room. She lay in a double bed, opposite the bedroom door, and as she looked to the left she could see her window filtering light into the room and remembered she had forgotten to close the curtains the night before. Bella pulled back her duvet and stepped into the warm room, onto her comfy beige carpet feeling her feet sink into it as she walked to the window seat and sat down.

She gazed out of the window, thinking about the previous night and day. It had been like a dream almost, escaping from her adopted family, finding out that she, Bella, was special. She remembered going into the kitchen late the previous night, after Ava had heard her stomach rumble and she had eaten a whole bowl of cheese pasta with garlic bread to herself.

"Thanks, this is great." Bella had said with a mouthful of food, and in her hunger she had somehow managed to put the pasta on the fork without even trying to pick it up – it just materialised there.

"Oh!" Ava exclaimed.

"What?" Layla dropped her fork startled.

"It's just, I've never seen a Hexian so young have so much control over her powers before, but I suppose I should have expected it."

"Expected it?" Bella asked confused.

"Because of your parents." Ava said as if this was an answer and Bella just looked at her questioningly, everyone seemed to assume that she knew so much about herself.

"You know ..."

"No not really." Bella laughed.

"Your parents were both Hexian. That's really rare, it only happens once every couple of generations because Hexian's are so rare now that they barely ever meet one another, let alone fall in love with each other. So you Bella, are extremely special. You have got to be the most powerful Hexian in existence right now maybe the most powerful ever. And I shouldn't be biased but it's lucky you have Edward." She smiled, looking the picture of a proud parent, but as one question of Bella's was answered, her shock at being that special was subdued by another.

"Lucky?"

"He hasn't told you!" Ava said half shocked, "Keepers tend to match their Hexian's in power. You are the most powerful of your kind, while he is the most powerful of ours. I take it he told you that most Keepers have a single power to protect their charge." Bella nodded – finally knowing something. "Well Edward has practically every power that a Keeper can have and he's only 18, we get our full power at 19 so he's still got some left to develop."

Bella saw a bird flutter past the window and returned to the present. She wondered what powers Edward had and if he would show her, _unlikely_ she thought, because for some reason she still didn't like him. Layla sat there just thinking and was amazed at how unique she was, after all she had always thought that she faded into the crowd, never standing out in a good or bad way.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Bella jumped at the sound and called "come in," at the door.

Abi opened it and stood there in her normal clothes looking fresh and awake as if she had been up for hours.

"Morning," she said loudly, "breakfast is almost ready. Mum told me to come and wake you up, but seen as you are, you can come down now if you want."

"Yeah I'm starving." Bella said jumping up from the window seat, her belly grumbling. "Oh," Bella turned and saw her messy room, "I'll be right down." She called after Abi as she saw her walk down the landing and heard a faint Ok before she was out of sight.

Bella went and made her bed, she placed all of the cushions neatly so they were in a triangular shape and then put the clothes she had worn the day before in a wash bag that Ava had pointed out in the corner of the room. _Much better_, Bella thought. She was so used to tidying up everything that she didn't want her room to become messy just because she didn't have to anymore.

Bella walked back over to her bedroom door and gave her room a loving look as she closed it gently behind her. She walked straight down the landing and tried to remember what Ava had said about where the rest of the family's rooms were. _Abi's room_, Bella thought as she passed the first door on her left, _Dan's room_, second room on the left, _Edward's ... OW!_

"Watch it!" Edward groaned as they bashed into each other.

It was true that Bella hadn't been paying attention to where she was going, but she didn't see him step out of his door as she had turned right onto the balcony which lead to the stairs.

"Shouldn't jump out on people." Bella retorted.

She untangled herself from Edward and walked across the balcony completely ignoring him, like she hadn't just barged into him. Bella walked down the stairs and round past the piano and seating area, past the living room until she reached the lone door at the back of the house that led to the kitchen. As she walked in she could smell bacon strongly, her mouth watered and her belly groaned again but in anticipation.

"Smells great." She said to Ava who was at the far left of the kitchen cooking the breakfast.

"Well it's all ready to dish up, Liam could you ..." Ava turned to look at Liam.

He nodded and all of the food in the pan spun in the air until it landed on the breakfast bar that separated the right end of the room which was the dining area, from the left side of the room which was the actual . The whole family was there sitting round the bar, Abi, Callum, a space for Ava, Liam, Dan, and a space for Bella in-between him and Edward – Bella moaned internally. Liam continued, his eyes whizzing in their sockets, to sort the food onto seven plates in perfect portions for each person.

"Thanks." Bella said as she sat down to her assigned place. She felt a bit awkward at being so involved in their family routine but they included her in everything and she explained, when asked, about her life at the Fawlen home.

v

Back in her room, Bella unpacked her things and realised how much she hadn't had time to pick up. CD's, some of her books and some of her clothes that she had put in the wash were missing, _great_, she thought sarcastically. Only now did Bella find out how much she'd fit into her tiny rucksack, she smiled to herself finally able to understand the weird and wonderful things that had happened to her most of her life. What Ava had said, finally sunk in. The reason that she had been able to have some use of her powers from such a young age, was because she was an extremely powerful Hexian, which meant that less powerful Hexian's couldn't. Taking her father's journal out from her bag, she placed it on her bedside table, not needing to hide it because she knew that no one would try to take it from her. And after panicking for a while, Bella finally managed to find her mother's Pointe shoes at the bottom of the bag and placed them next to the journal.

Bella wanted to check out the rest of the house so she chucked the rucksack under her bed and made her way downstairs, but when she turned onto the balcony, she stopped at the door between Edward's room and his parent's room, she hadn't noticed it until now. Bella didn't want to look nosy by just going into a room in the house without permission so she looked left and right (checking no one was around) before she opened the door to find a Library. There were so many books in it that she completely lost her train of thought. The walls were all shelved with books right up to the ceiling, apart from where a huge fireplace was burning which was directly opposite the door and where a landscape picture hung above it. There was a comfy, grandfather looking chair in the corner of the room, and a sliding ladder was attached to the wall next to it, so you could reach every book in the room,_ not that Liam needs it_ she thought.

A round, old looking rug was in the centre of the room, and Bella just couldn't help herself, she walked across it and started to run her finger over the backs of the books, noticing that they were in alphabetical order. _Lord of the Rings_, Bella suddenly thought hoping the library had one of her favourite books. The fire spat drawing her attention for a split second and when she looked back Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien was under her finger. Bella wasn't even shocked after seeing so many weird things over the past 24 hours and she pulled the very old book out of the shelf, _power is fun_, she giggled. Bella looked from the book to the chair longingly, but decided to explore the rest of the house first before she huddled up to read in the corner because she knew she wouldn't move for hours then.

"I'll be back." She whispered shutting the room's door silently, as if she didn't want to disturb it.

Bella walked down the spiral staircase and opened the book to where a red ribbon divider was set, it looked as though someone was halfway through it, but stated to flick through her favourite parts in the book anyway. Bella tripped as she went to step on the last step that wasn't there and a door at the front of the hall caught her eye. She walked towards it and knocked loudly to check no one was in there before she went in. But when she did - she didn't expect what she found. She was in a dark room, with just a black stone on a waist height podium, _what the .._. she went over, curious, and touched it.

The whole room spun and colours blurred into one, dark became light, shadow became reflection, _am I emerging_? Bella thought confused. But before she had decided if she was or not, she saw that she was now standing in a dance studio. _Dance studio?_ There were mirrors lining the walls and Bella felt the urge to dance as a beautiful piece of music began to weave around the room. She remembered the shoes her mum had left her and like earlier they appeared, but this time perfectly done up on her feet making Bella lose balance slightly and before she knew it she was dancing gracefully around the room mimicking what she had seen on television as a child. For what seemed like hours she spun on her toes to beautiful music that managed to keep her dancing – Bella didn't want to stop. She could see a smile on her face in the mirror and then she saw it drop, and she stopped dancing instantly when she noticed Edward watching her motionless in the corner of the room, a small smile on his perfect lips.

"Having fun?" He asked sarcastically. Bella felt her face burn red in embarrassment.

Too annoyed to answer, she took off the Pointe shoes and when she spotted her normal ones put them back on. She picked up the book which she'd left in the corner of the room and went to storm out trying to show him that he had been rude to barge in on her...

"Is that my book?" He asked sounding like a spoilt child.

"I don't know." Bella replied hoping desperately that he hadn't been the one halfway through reading it.

"Where did you get it?" He persisted.

"The library," _Ha_, Bella thought seeing his face mould into a confused but still slightly angry expression, she knew this wasn't the answer he'd expected.

"It was in my room."

"Well I went in the Library, thought about the book and it was there," she said stubbornly, "but here," she said shoving the book into his arms, "take it if it's yours."

"You thought about it?"

"It's one of the books I didn't pick up when I was ... err ... leaving the Fawlen's, and it's one of my favourites so..."

"Same." He said thoughtfully looking into her eyes and stirring a deep feeling that she assumed was dislike.

Bella, sick of him, was about to leave when he stopped her by saying...

"Don't you want to know what this room is? I take it you didn't just walk in to find it like this?"

"Oh... yeah." She said remembering the dark room and stone that had been there before the dance studio.

_I obviously didn't emerge then_, she thought slightly disappointed. Edward closed his eyes for a second and as he did the room spun again and they were back in the dark room with the black stone as the centre piece.

"This," he explained pointing to the stone, "is called a Penuria Cilex, a kind of wishing stone that has been adapted so that whoever touches it is in any room that they wish to be in. Then you just have to wish to be back in the original room once your done and it changes back." He smiled at the brilliance behind the stone and its power.

"But I didn't _wish_ to be in a dance studio." Bella said trying to catch him out – she was still annoyed and embarrassed that he had seen her dancing.

"Then you must have had that wish somewhere deep inside you and the stone brought it to the surface."

Bella knew he was right, after all she had always wanted to dance but never been able to do it anywhere. He looked at her now as if he was trying to bring something to the surface within her, Bella didn't know what it was but couldn't stand to look in his eyes for much longer – the strange feeling was coming back again.

"This will be your training room as well, your first lesson is tomorrow remember – after school." He added smirking as Bella looked away from him.

Bella didn't smile back, dislike resurfaced as she realised what the smirk was for. He was obviously looking forward to her making a complete fool out of herself in her training lessons, _I am so going to prove you wrong_, she thought overly competitive.

"Wait … school?"

For some reason she hadn't thought about going back to school on Monday. She only had a week left until half term anyway and really didn't fancy going back.

"Yes, I believe you have one week left?" Edward asked and Bella nodded. "Then you have to go to school and we'll start the lesson when you get back."

"Ok, but it's not exactly safe is it." Bella replied thinking about the Tracker that wanted to kill her, _what if Jamie got hurt because of me?_ She thought.

"Don't worry – I've already thought about that. You'll be as safe there as if you were here." He said sweetly.

He obviously wasn't in the mood to explain to her all his secret details on how he was going to keep her safe. He walked to the door and opened it for Bella, she didn't understand why he was pretending to be so polite, _gentlemen are we?_ She walked out of the room, across the hall and just as she went to open the door to the living room she turned and spotted Edward almost on the balcony.

"Edward!" Bella called jogging over to the foot of the stairs she remembered something when she had thought about Jamie.

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you a favour? You can emerge anywhere - right?" She really didn't want to ask him but knew that everyone else would say '_ask Edward'_ if she tried to talk to them.

"I suppose and of course." He replied slightly hesitant but cocky.

"Well the thing is ... I have this sort of ... err ... _meeting_ ... no more of a ... no ... a meeting with a friend of mine and we're going to the cinemas ..." she didn't know what it was called with Jamie but before she even had a chance to explain she was interrupted –

"No." Edward replied shortly turning on the stairs and heading back to his room.

"Excuse me?" Bella was not having this. "You haven't even heard me out!"

Edward turned and walked down to where Bella was standing, leaning slightly forward so his face was just above hers. "You want to go on a date at the cinemas and you are not going. You have Trackers ..."

"Track_er_!" Bella said emphasising that she only had one tracker after her and she unknowingly moved closer to him as she said it.

"Fine! You have _a_ Tracker after you and I cannot protect you in a place full of people. Don't even ask the rest of my family because they will do whatever I ask. You are my charge and it is my job to protect you!" He soundly deadly serious but so was she.

"You can't control me. I'm allowed free will! And I will see whoever I want. Whenever I want!" She said - her temper rising. How could someone who barely knew her, talk to her like this?

"Then I am grounding you." Edward said smiling bitterly as he saw her face drop, his face inches from hers.

"What?" Bella hadn't expected that, "no you can't ..." she said in disbelief, knowing deep down that she had just been grounded by an eighteen year old boy.

"I think you will find I can."

Bella was lost for words and Edward didn't seem to have much else to say. They were both still inches from each other, their eyes locked fiercely into contact, there was so much tension between them and suddenly Bella felt a weird sensation – she wanted to move closer to him. Edward felt it too, but unlike Bella, he did move slightly closer to her. She didn't see him do it because he turned at the same time, confused and bewildered by what he had felt. He walked up the stairs trying to understand why he had moved in, _must have been dizzy from standing on the stairs for so long_, he lied stupidly to himself as he went into his room.

v

"Pass the ketchup," Dan asked at breakfast Sunday morning.

Bella was still fuming at Edward because she hadn't even given Jamie a good excuse for not going to the cinemas with him, _I'm sick and staying at a friend's house_, she'd said coughing down the phone. Jamie told her he would let Mr and Mrs Fawlen know she was ok, but somehow Bella didn't think they would be overly ecstatic about the news. Jamie hadn't even known that she'd run away, her adopted parents must not have thought that not telling people was a good idea.

Both Bella and Edward reached for the bottle, their hands touched and eyes met before Bella pulled her hand back from his, blushed and then started to eat again, paying a lot more attention than she would've usual done to cutting up her sausages. No one seemed to notice this brief interaction between them, but Bella and Edward were awkward around each other for the rest of the day, and whenever they saw each other they couldn't meet each other's eyes. Any speaking or body contact meant Bella went bright red and started to play with her necklace in her hand, and Edward remembered he had to do something somewhere else in the house.

"Look, I'm sorry that I didn't let you go to your _meeting_," Edward apologised sincerely catching her just after they'd eaten dinner. "But I don't want you to get hurt. This is serious."

"I know," Bella replied - she didn't know what else to say.

The awkwardness between them seemed to erase at these few spoken words and they both thought that they had found its cause – the argument. Bella yawned involuntarily...

"I'm going up," she said to him, "tell everyone I said goodnight."

"All right, I think Abi's upstairs though. Night Bella" He said with a beautiful smile going into the front room.

Bella walked drowsily across the hall and up the stairs thinking about how well her first couple of days at the Night house had gone. The whole family were so nice to her, they included her in everything and she felt as though they were a sort of family to her even though she barely knew them. Bella living there had just sort of clicked into place. Abi was already like a sister and best friend rolled into one and as Bella caught the gleam of her hot pink nails out of the corner of her eye she remembered how Abi had painted them for her after Bella had French plaited her hair. They'd spent most of the afternoon in Bella's room, mostly due to Bella trying to hide from Edward, and they just talked about music finding out they had so much in common that they never had an awkward silence between them. Bella turned onto the landing after the balcony and smiled at Abi when she saw her coming out of her room.

"Thanks for today. It was really nice spending some time with you, and getting to know you better." Bella said affectionately to Abi.

"I had a lovely time too." Abi grinned in response.

"I'm glad. But to be honest, I am exhausted from talking so much."

"Well, you do like to chat."

"Hey!" Bella laughed. "I'm going to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow. Night Abi."

"Wait," Abi said catching her arm, "what was with you and Edward today? I didn't notice it until dinner but you seemed a bit off with each other." She asked.

"Oh ... nothing. We had an argument yesterday you know about the cinema thing, he grounded me," Bella had forgotten to tell Abi about the grounding part when they were talking and they both laughed at how silly it sounded. "But we're ok now." Bella said making sure that Abi didn't worry that her and Edward weren't getting on.

"Is that it? I thought maybe it was to do with something else." Abi didn't look convinced, but Bella had no idea what she was meant and just looked quizzically back at her. Abi thought Bella wasn't telling her some vital detail but let it go. "Don't worry... sleep well." She said letting Layla past her to go to her room, _hmmm_, she thought as she walked back down the hall, _I will find out what's going on between them... an argument – sure,_ she laughed.

v

Bella lay in bed and felt a chill go down her spine. She rolled onto her side and tried to get back to sleep, but she had felt a strange change in her dreams. _Something's happenin_g she thought, but forgot the thought as soon as it had formed in her head. She fell back into a now dreamless sleep.


End file.
